East Georgia fast becoming hub for U.S. cybersecurity efforts

AUGUSTA, Ga. — After many months of planning and development, the Fort Gordon Cyber District in east Georgia is finally official.

The Alliance for Fort Gordon last week announced the launch of a partnership among military, business and civic leaders, The Augusta Chronicle reported.

Community leaders said it will position the Augusta area to best distribute economic benefits expected with the area’s growing boom in cybersecurity jobs and businesses.

The Army’s Cyber Command is expected to move to Fort Gordon by 2020 from Fort Belvoir, Va. Also, the Georgia Cyber Innovation and Training Center — designed to promote modernization in cybersecurity through public-private partnerships — is under construction in downtown Augusta.

The term “Fort Gordon Cyber District” was coined last year to broadly describe the concept of the new partnership, the newspaper reported.

Now, the focus is on fostering what the alliance has called “a unique, welcoming culture” for technology professionals to “live, work, and play.”

With the anticipated rise of cyber-related workers coming to the Augusta area, the new residents will need homes and apartments, convenient places to work and a variety of options on how to spend their leisure time. Partners in the Cyber District are committing to touting and improving those areas of demand.

“Our team of dedicated professionals has aligned efforts to create a vision for the area that is complete with plans to address education, workforce development, innovation, entrepreneurship and marketing centered around the development of the local cyber community,” said Tom Clark, the alliance’s executive director.

“Our official launch marks the beginning of seeing our plans to fruition through streamlined marketing efforts, community involvement, local events and the overall transformation of the cyber economy in the greater Augusta area into the next national innovation hub,” Clark said.

The Cyber District encompasses Richmond, Columbia, Burke, McDuffie and Lincoln counties in Georgia, and Aiken and Edgefield counties in South Carolina. That includes the Army’s Cyber Center of Excellence and Augusta University’s Cyber Institute.

Fort Gordon, the region’s largest employer, with its vast communications and cybersecurity training centers, has an annual economic impact of $2.26 billion on the region, Clark said.

“With the relocation of Army Cyber Command and the construction of a new Cyber Campus, Fort Gordon could be the home for all Department of Defense cyber forces training,” he said.

More than $211 million in construction is ongoing at Fort Gordon, and another $1.4 billion in projected upgrades, renovations and construction are expected in the next decade, Clark said.